Harry Potter: Flower Garden
by The Pyromancer
Summary: Narcissa Black isn't exactly sure of when it happened, but one day she woke up to find that her heart had been stolen by Lily Evans. This is the slightly bittersweet story of the secret relationship between two women from different worlds who would both play important roles in shaping the future of the Wizarding world. Contains some mentions of sexual Content.


**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any characters contained within.**

Please leave a review if you feel strongly one way or the other, see a glaring mistake or just have some free time; reader feedback helps me to write better stories.

**Harry Potter: Flower Garden**

A black cloaked figure walked with purpose across the cold, wet ground; moist dirt clinging to their boots with every step. The cover of night, and the clouds blocking out the moon and stars, protected the figure from any scrutiny. They didn't have a problem seeing where they were going though. They had memorized the route to their destination several hours prior and night vision was one of the very first spells they had ever mastered, for use in situations much like this.

Finally, after an hour of walking a long circumspect path to throw off any possible pursuit, and with plenty of thorough checks, the cloaked figure arrived at their destination. Before them stood two graves, placed closely side by side. The figure ignored the one on the left and instead kneeled before the one on the right, ignoring the mud that was sucking at their legs. The figure lifted off their cloak to reveal a middle aged woman with long blonde hair that framed a constantly severe expression. She just knelt there on the cold damp night for ten minutes, neither speaking nor crying, just staring at the grave stone in front of her. Her ulterior motive for taking such a long path to the grave had been to work up the courage to finally make a visit that was years overdue. Underneath her shirt she felt the cold touch of a metal pendant.

Finally the woman looked at the words on the grave with conscious thought instead of with the blank expression she had been. Tears started to build up in her eyes as they tracked across the symbols on the grave and she read aloud.

"R.I.P, Lily Potter (nee Evans), B. 30 January 1960 D. 31 October 1981." At that point the woman broke down, tears pouring down the side of her cheeks. She started to mutter angrily to herself. "You stupid, stupid bitch…why did you have to die? Why…"

* * *

><p>"Rissa," said a voice, drawing Narcissa Black's attention from brushing her hair. Looking over her shoulder she saw her lover, Lily Evans, just sitting naked on the hotel bed. The young woman was always breathtaking with her vibrant red hair and caring green eyes, and Narcissa had to resist joining her for another round. She had appointments to keep after all, the outside world might be invisible beyond the walls of their room, but it continued to move none the less. She was also worried about the serious expression that her lover wore on her face.<p>

"Yes?" she asked.

"Do you love me?" asked Lily. The question surprised Narcissa for a moment, but she managed to gather up herself for an answer.

"I care for you deeply and these meetings are very precious to me," replied Narcissa truthfully. This was a Narcissa Black that would shock anyone else who knew of her or spent more than a couple of minutes in her presence, a Narcissa Black known by only one other person. She preferred to be this type of woman, but unfortunately outside of the walls of rooms such as these, she couldn't be. For allowing her moments such as these, she cared for Lily deeply. Sadly, Lily just gave a quick frown before replacing it with a fake smile, one that failed to hold up to her usual genuine expressions.

"And I care deeply for you too during _these_ meetings," said Lily, stressing her words in a manner that Narcissa knew was meant to hurt her; and succeeded. "So, I'm sad to say that this will have to be the last meeting. I've just been proposed to by James Potter, you know of him, right?"

"Yes," replied Narcissa stiffly. "He's a prefect of Gryffindor House with you, correct?"

"Yes, and we've been dating for a couple of months now. When we graduate from Hogwarts he would like to marry me and I see no reason to say no. Do you?"

"No, I do not. He'll make a great husband for you. He comes from a distinguished line of pure bloods, no?"

"Yes, he does, although he considers that a worthless fact. He doesn't give a damn about lineage after all, one of the reasons I want to marry him."

"Then you have my blessing," said Nacissa. With that she turned around and continued to brush her hair. Behind her she heard Lily lie back down on the bed with a thumping noise. While the brush methodically removed the tangles from her hair, tugging slightly at her scalp, she ignored the soft sobbing that was not meant for her ears. She just started to brush harder and harder until her head hurt, ignoring Lily as she sobbed gently into her pillow.

* * *

><p>Several months later Narcissa read about the marriage of Lily Evans to James Potter in several Wizarding papers, both young people having a bright future ahead of them. She herself had been proposed to by a much admired senior from her Hogwarts days, Lucius Malfoy. Lucius was everything she looked for in a husband; handsome, rich, a pure-blood, a great position in the Ministry of Magic and no inclination to subjugate her or look into her present or past affairs. Sadly he wasn't anything like what she wished for, but she had never been fool enough to expect to ever receive such. It's not like she believed she actually deserved such happiness.<p>

* * *

><p>She had long known it was coming, but a full blown wizarding war was still a concept she had a hard time wrapping her mind around. Lord Voldemort, murdering mudbloods (those without any wizarding blood) openly and subjugating everyone else. Her husband Lucius was involved as a trusted subordinate so it was frequent that she saw the Dark Lord himself gracing her home. Around the Dark Lord or any of his Death Eater servants, and even her husband she kept up a cordial expression and attitude. It was only during the cover of night when Lucius was sound asleep that she would permit herself to cry, praying that Lily Potter would keep her head down and submit to his rule instead of fighting against it, but knowing deep in her heart that her former lover would never do so.<p>

* * *

><p>It had been in her Sixth year at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry that Narcissa Black had first heard of Lily Evans. The girl was a first year but quickly became well known for being a prodigy; made even more amazing by the fact that she was a mudblood. The first time she saw Lily was in the dungeons right outside of the Slytherin dorm. As Narcissa had exited the portal between the common room and the castle she had been greeted by a small red headed girl with an uncertain expression on her face. It was obvious that she was a first year, and a red and gold badge identified her as a Gryffindor, not the type usually seen anywhere in the dungeons unless in for a punishment. She decided to just ignore the girl and go one her merry way, but a tiny hand shot out and grabbed the edge of her robe.<p>

"Could you please help me for a moment?" asked the little girl. Narcissa looked down at her and saw the pleading look in her eyes and gave a sigh.

"Fine," she replied. "What do you need?"

"Well," stuttered the girl slightly. "My friend has been missing classes and I wanted to make sure he was okay."

"Your friend?" asked Narcissa. "Are you telling me that you're friends with a member of my house?"

"Yes?" replied the girl uncertainly. Narcissa evaluated the Gryffindor girl for a moment, coming to a decision.

"Name?"

"Huh?"

"Name, you're friend's name, what is it? What year is he in?"

"Oh! Severus Snape! First year of Slytherin house!"

"Stay right here," commanded Narcissa turning back towards her common room. She walked up to the entrance and whispered the password to re-enter. "Subjugation."

In the Slytherin common room Narcissa saw students milling about between classes; relaxing, working on future assignments, or working hurriedly to finish ones due in just a few minutes. She took a deep breath.

"Is there a Severus Snape in here!" demanded Narcissa, looking around coldly at the gathered Slytherins who were now all focused on the forceful sixth year. One boy, a first year judging by the size of him, spoke up.

"He's in his room, been there all day ignoring anyone. Most of yesterday too," piped the boy.

"Go get him for me," commanded Narcissa. "Now."

"Yes ma'am!" cried the first year in fright. He rushed into the boy's dormitory and the common room became deathly silent as everyone waited and watched to see what would happen. The boy came back out after a moment, another boy following sulkily after. The boy was disheveled in what looked to be 2nd hand clothes. He had a displeased expression on his face at having been interrupted from whatever non-productive activity he had been doing. He was pale, but that seemed natural and not a sign of sickness. He was perfectly healthy, which meant Narcissa was going to enjoy what she was about to do.

"Are you Severus Snape?" demanded Narcissa.

"Who wants to know?" sneered the boy, looking up at the older girl with as much attitude as he could muster.

"People cutting class don't get to know that," replied Narcissa. She grabbed the front of the boy's robe firmly in her grasp and started to pull him towards the entryway. He tried to resist but she was much bigger than he was and it was a futile effort. It was though, enough to annoy her quite a bit. She whipped out her wand and uttered a quick spell. "Wingardium Leviosa!"

Severus lost his grip on the floor as he started to float off of the ground. He flailed slightly and the common room burst into laughter. Narcissa silenced everyone with a glare and then walked out of the common room, Severus floating in tow. Back outside she saw that three third years had surrounded the Gryffindor girl and were menacing her for being near their common room.

"What the heck are you doing here little girl?" asked one of them harshly.

"I-I'm waiting for my friend," replied the girl.

"This is Slytherin dorm," said another boy. "There are no friends here for you!"

"Yeah!" enthused the third boy, obviously the slow, uncreative one of the bunch.

Narcissa just gave a sigh and with a flick of her wand lobbed Severus at the three boys. The first year boy cried out in fright but it wasn't enough of a warning as he flew through the air and knocked over the three third years. All four boys lay in a pile trying to disentangle themselves as the first year girl gasped in surprise.

"I brought your friend," Narcissa stated simply. She started to walk away, to go about her business from before she had been interrupted by the whole mess, but first shot a glare at the three boys. "No menacing girls, no matter the house. You don't know who will appear to kick your bloody arses. And Severus, no making girls worried, got it?"

All four boys just stared at her, dumb stuck. The Gryffindor girl hurried over and helped Severus up, fretting over him.

"I'm so sorry!" she apologized. "I didn't know that would happen! You were just missing from class and I was worried something was wrong or that it was something I had done and I couldn't enter and I just needed help so I asked the nearest person and she was nice enough to get you but then she flung you around and I'm so, so sorr-"

"Its fine!" yelled Severus, quieting the Gryffindor girl. He suddenly turned a bright shade of red, stuttering the rest of his response. "I-I mean, you didn't do anything wrong, and I'm sorry for cutting classes, I just….I had reasons. Sorry for worrying you."

"Its fine!" said the girl happily, smiling cheerfully at the boy. "Now let's head to class before we're late!"

The two started to run off out of the dungeons, but when they made it to the stairs the Gryffindor girl turned around and gave Narcissa a large smile.

"Thank you for your help!" said the girl. Then, in a blink the two first years were up the stairs and out of the tower. Narcissa marveled a bit at the strange friendship of the two 1st years, gave a final warning glare to the still tangled 3rd years and started to walk up the stairs to her class.

* * *

><p>Narcissa lay in bed, just staring up at the unfamiliar ceiling of the muggle hotel room. Normally she wouldn't bother with such a place when she could just apparate back to her family's mansion and sleep in her own, absurdly comfortable bed, but the reward of not doing so this time was worth it. She was supposedly on a vacation, traveling around the countryside. Her mother thought it was a silly endeavor, but was willing to indulge her usually obedient daughter. Not just her mother but basically all of the Black family, except for a few known nutters, would be shocked if they managed to catch her in the hotel room. It wouldn't help her case that a red headed young woman, an infamous mudblood show off, currently had her arms wrapped around Narcissa, her head nestled up against Narcissa's side.<p>

Narcissa would have preferred to watch her young lover sleep, but the position they were in made that very difficult without waking her, so instead she just studied the ceiling. Slowly, Lily started to stir, disengaging very slowly from Narcissa, and sitting up in the bed. The covers slipped off of her, revealing her naked chest. She saw Narcissa looking up at her and gave her a bright smile.

"Good morning Rissa," she said cheerfully.

"Morning Lily," replied Narcissa, sitting up now that she was free of her lover's embrace. "Did you sleep well?"

"Very. Have you been awake long?"

"Not too long," said Narcissa casually. Lily leaned over suddenly and gave Narcissa a deep kiss, surprising her. Recovering quickly from her shock, the older woman leaned into the kiss, replying with passion. After a few moments they broke off the kiss, smiling flushed at each other.

"Hey," said Lily, smiling brightly, "want to go again?"

"You obsessed with sex or something?" teased Narcissa.

"Just with you," replied Lily, leaning in close to Narcissa. Soon the two lovers were once again kissing and touching each all over, rolling over the sex stained sheets of the hotel bed. Their rolling about ended when Narcissa forced Lily onto her back, straddling her lover and looking down at her with a predatory smile.

"Got you," said Narcissa.

"Yes, you do," replied Lily, wrapping her arms around Narcissa. She smiled up at her. "Do you remember the first time we met?"

"Of course, outside the Syltherin dorm," answered Narcissa.

"You were pretty rough on poor Severus. He told me he spent the next year trying to avoid you as much as possible. But you were doing it to help me, so I was very glad. You could have easily ignored or bullied me, but you didn't."

"It's not like I was in a rush to get anywhere," replied Narcissa. "Plus it was kind of impressive to see a little Gryffindor girl standing in the dungeons."

"House of the brave," laughed Lily. "Do you remember the second time we met?"

"Diagon Alley," answered Narcissa with a wistful smile.

* * *

><p>Narcissa Black strolled casually through Daigon Alley, alone except for the throngs of people surrounding her. There was a certain weird feeling in knowing that this would be her last trip in the familiar wizarding shopping area for school supplies. Sure she'd come here at other times in her life for certain needs or just to relax, and eventually when she'd need to take her own children for school supplies. But that in itself would be a different experience, not one primarily for her. She could have always just had the house elves do the shopping for her, but this way she got what she wanted. Plus, if she left everything to the miserable creatures then what was there for her to do really? Inactivity was the bane of her existence, it'd kill her to have to do nothing.<p>

Narcissa knew exactly where she had to go and what she needed, so the trip would only take as long as she wanted it to take. As she casually peaked at the displays set up in shop windows, she caught glimpses of a lone head of red hair just standing off to the side of the street, waves of people walking quickly around and past it. As Narcissa approached she saw the same little red headed Gryffindor girl from the year before just standing on the street, her head buried into a large piece of parchment. The girl turned to look around the street, revealing the parchment as a map of the many venues of Daigon Alley, although it looked to Narcissa to be several years out of date. She wondered if the girl had come alone or just waiting for family or friends to return.

Not that it was her problem. She continued to walk past, shooting a final look at the girl as she approached. The girl looked up at her in that moment, their eyes meeting. Narcissa cursed to herself as recognition spread on the small girl's face, a smile replacing the frown she had been wearing.

"Hello again," greeted the Gryffindor girl brightly. "I would like to thank you again for your help with Severus, he's behaved himself afterwards and went to classes. The potion master was very happy, since he's such a bright student in that class. Are you here shopping for school supplies also?"

"Yes, I am," replied Narcissa stiffly. Her casual shopping was what it was because she was alone, at her own pace. She just needed to move along and leave the girl before she asked the inevitable questions for assistance or to go shopping together.

"Well," said the girl brightly, "I'll just let you go on your way then."

She went back to looking cluelessly at her map, giving Narcissa the chance she had wanted to make a break for it. All she had to do was walk away and she'd be free to continue her day of leisure. Getting involved with anyone else that she didn't need to would just to trouble.

"Are you having trouble finding the place you need to go to?" asked Narcissa, turning around to look at the red headed girl. The little girl looked up at Narcissa, relief written all over her features.

"If you wouldn't mind," she replied politely. "I have this map but I still can't seem to find anywhere. Not a single shop seems to be where it's supposed to be and I've been walking around for at least half an hour."

"Where are your parents?" asked Narcissa. "Wouldn't they know where you need to go?"

"My parents are muggles, they wouldn't know where we needed to go either," said the girl, shaking her head sadly. "It's my sister Petunia's birthday today and she wanted to go to an attraction that's only running right now, but I needed my supplies. I told them that since I had been here once that I could find my way on my own and that they should just focus on Petunia. Sadly that doesn't seem to be the case."

"You're a mudblood?" asked Narcissa, the slur slipping out before she could check herself. The words hit the girl with a visible effect, showing that she had encountered the derogatory term before.

Narcissa flinched slightly in regret; not speaking her mind had always been difficult for her. She was blunt with her words, and she could get away with it. Moments like this showed why the concept of tact existed in the first place. She didn't need to care, she honestly had no reason to care, but she did. So, she knelt down and looked the Gryffindor girl directly in the eyes. She had beautiful green eyes and were partially misty from oncoming tears.

"I'm sorry, that just slipped out," apologized Narcissa. "How about this, I'll help you find what you need, as an apology. I know Diagon Alley like the back of my wand. Does that sound fine to you?"

The girl sniffled slightly, gathering herself. She tried to choke out some words, but couldn't manage it. Instead she just nodded in agreement. Narcissa reached out, took the map from the girl and folded it up into a tiny square. She stood up and pocketed the parchment.

"Do you have any supplies yet?" asked Narcissa. The little girl just shook her head to the side. Narcissa side and turned around. "Okay, we'll go get you some robes first, since at your age I'm guessing you out grew your old ones."

As Narcissa tried to walk away she was stopped short by a tiny hand reaching out and grabbing hers tightly. She turned around to see the little girl blushing sheepishly up at her. She gave another sigh, smiled slightly, tightened her hand around the little girl's and led her to a shop to get fitted for some robes.

The fitting went quickly as the little girl was very cooperative, allowing the shop keeper to find her sizes quickly. Narcissa also got herself some nice robes, and made sure that the Gryffindor girl's robes were of suitably high quality. So that they didn't have to carry everything around, Narcissa made sure that everything would be delivered to their respective homes. The little girl said her address when prompted, along with her name.

"Lily," she answered. "Lily Evans."

"Ok Lily," replied the shopkeeper in a friendly tone. "I'll have this made up and sent to your address. Would you like your name stitched onto the robes also?"

"Yes please," replied Lily politely.

"Oh, what nice manners!" laughed the shopkeeper. She looked at Nacissa, a smile on her face. "You're keeping such nice company today Ms. Black."

"Yes," replied Narcissa with a small smile. Lily blushed bright red, turning away to try to keep some dignity.

"Much better than that dirty older sister of yours," said the shopkeeper in a conspiratorial fake whisper. "What is that Andromeda thinking? We all heard the news, the Blacks are such a well-respected family and something like this has to come about. It's tragic, your poor mother must be all torn up!"

At this point Narcissa was starting to feel uncomfortable since she knew what the shopkeeper was alluding to. Lily on the other hand was just getting curious by all the secretive phrasing and half statements.

"What happened?" piped up Lily, interested and curious.

"Nothing important," cut it Narcissa, grabbing Lily's hand to try to pull her away from the store, but the shopkeeper was in full gossip mode now, and leaned down conspiratorially to whisper at the little girl.

"Miss Andromeda Black went and married a mudblood, can you believe it!" cried the shopkeeper. "Such a foolish little girl, going off and hurting her family by defiling herself like that!"

"We'll be going now," said Narcissa firmly, pulling Lily away from the excited shopkeeper. "Thank you for the lovely robes, we'll be looking forward to their arrival later."

"Have a good one Ms. Black!" yelled the shopkeeper. "I bet your sister is having a dirty half-blood child as we speak! The shame!"

Narcissa pulled Lily roughly onto Diagon Alley and dragged her down past several shops that they would no doubt need to visit soon for supplies. She ignored everything else, a path clearing itself just by her very presence, and she led Lily into a loud pub. She walked right up to the counter, ordered two butter beers, grabbed both in one hand, somehow managing to not spill a single drop, and dropped them down on an empty table in the corner. She gestured to Lily, who had an uncharacteristically stoic expression on her face, to sit down and grab one of the drinks. She herself sat down and took a large, unladylike swig, enjoying as the liquid flowed smoothly down her throat, warming her up inside. She took a second large swig, closing her eyes in enjoyment of the drink, and when she opened them she saw Lily studying her, her own drink untouched.

"Go on," urged Narcissa, gesturing to the full mug with her half-finished one. "It's not alcoholic, or poisonous, and it's definitely better than what you'd find in a muggle shop."

"Are you okay?" asked Lily, not touching her drink yet.

"Me?" asked Narcissa, surprised at the question. "I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?"

"You seemed….distressed by that lady's words."

"It's you I'm worried about," replied Narcissa, taking another quick sip and swallowing it. "I'd you have rather not heard any of that."

"Are you ashamed of your sister?" asked Lily, her voice small, embarrassed and curious. She seemed to be making a large effort to not divert her eyes down from Narcissa.

"I just didn't think you needed to hear someone talking bad about mud-muggles," replied Narcissa, catching herself.

"I didn't like hearing it…" admitted Lily, tears coming out of her eyes. "But why didn't you defend your sister?"

"Defend her?" asked Narcissa, confused. "Andromeda?"

"Yes, to the lady in the shop. Shouldn't you have defended your sister from all the bad things she was saying? Do you not love your sister?"

"I love my sister," replied Narcissa dully.

"But then why didn't you defend her?" pressed Lily, honestly curious.

"Because, she's been disowned by the family," replied Narcissa. She knew she shouldn't be talking to a stranger about this, a stranger who was probably going to burst into tears from the world of adults, but she just wanted to at this point.

"Disowned?"

"Yes. She's not recognized as a part of the Black family anymore."

"But why?"

"Because she married a muggle."

"And that got her disowned? Is he a criminal or something?"

"No, just a regular man."

"Then why-"

"Because that's just how my bloody family works!" yelled Narcissa, her cries reaching only Lily in the din of the pub. "All it takes is one mistake, one wrong move that doesn't follow our tradition of "Toujours pur", or at least my mother's opinion of what it means to be "always pure", and you're disowned! A flick of the wand and you're cut off from the life you once knew, your face on our family tree blown clear off!"

Lily just studied her for another moment, looking confused, then spoke up. "None of that makes sense."

"You bet it bloody well doesn't," muttered Narcissa darkly. "Find a pure blood husband to marry, they don't have to be nice, just pure blood and maybe a little not pathetic, and have lots of pure blood children. Don't fraternize with Muggles, squibs, half-bloods or Weasleys. Honestly, just having accompanied you around Diagon Alley could get me in trouble with the dreadful mood mother has been in the last several years."

"But why?" asked Lily.

"Because the people who run my family think it does make sense. Have your parents ever done something you thought absurd that they thought made sense?"

"No," admitted Lily.

"Then I can't help you to understand it," said Narcissa with a sigh. She returned to drinking her butter beer. Lily took small, quick sips of her own drink. They just sat there in silence for almost a half hour just drinking amid the din of the pub. After both their drinks were done, in silent agreement they stood up and walked back out onto Diagon Alley.

They worked quickly and with few words down the list of supplies they both needed. At each store Narcissa paid before Lily had a chance to. She kept trying to beat the older witch to it, but couldn't manage. It started to become a playful game, and smiles started to return to their faces. It was at the final store of the day, while buying potion supplies, that Lily finally got the jump on her. Narcissa managed to purchase everything they both needed, handing over money smugly to the shop keeper. She glanced gloatingly at Lily only to find that the girl wasn't by her side anymore. The feeling of not being with someone she had spent all day next to was weird. As the shop keeper slowly tallied everything up and asked for payment, Narcissa started to get worried. What if, in the moment she hadn't been looking something bad had happened to the little girl? She wasn't her responsibility, not officially. She didn't need to care about what happened to Lily, but she found that she did. As she started to get antsy at the time it was taking to pay the shopkeeper, suddenly she felt a tug on her sleeve. Looking down she saw Lily, smiling up at her, two large lollipops, one in each hand.

"I got you this," said Lily cheerfully. "And I paid for it myself this time."

Narcissa could only stare at the girl in bewilderment for several moments before she started to laugh, a deep, cheerful, heartfelt laugh. Lily and the shopkeeper looked at her in surprise as she laughed, tears starting to pour down her cheeks. She handed the last of the money to the shopkeeper and managed to get herself under control. She wiped away the tears with her sleeve and put her other hand on top of Lily's head.

"Looks like you beat me this time," smiled Narcissa. "Thank you."

Lily just beamed up at her.

* * *

><p>Narcissa didn't feel sad as she packed up her trunk for the final time. Her final year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was at a close. No more would she walk the winding halls and converse with the ghosts or professors that occupied them. She wouldn't walk around the beautiful grounds, the dark forest surrounding it not diminishing anything. She'd be separated from the delicious food that couldn't be beat anywhere in England. And for most of them this would be the last time she saw the students of the school. But none of this made her sad, just annoyed. She liked the experience of being at Hogwarts, it had led to many of the best memories of her life. If she had any kids, she'd no doubt make sure they attended the school.<p>

She was most annoyed by the lack of freedom she was about to experience. Schools limited the environment that someone was in compared to the larger world outside of them, but for Narcissa it was free of all the social obligations she'd now have to attend to. She'd need to attend to things around her family house, although that would just be in appearances since there were house elves for the real work, leaving her nothing to do and no where she could go. Next would eventually be marriage, a different type of confinement. She might get some freedom once she bore children and had to raise them. That would be left to her, since the house elves were too filthy to handle such an important task as raising the next generation; although some pure blooded witch (or possibly half-blooded, although it wouldn't be discussed) would be tasked with raising her children. Eventually they would all go off to Hogwarts, one by one and there would be once again nothing to do. It was not a thrilling proposition.

As Narcissa rummaged through her stuff, organizing and packing everything, her hand brushed against a small piece of metal. She took it out and saw that is was a small flower shaped metal pendant attached to a metal chain. It had six petals surrounding a center core into which the initials N.B. had been carved. She looked quizzically at the daffodil pendant since it was also known by another name, narcissus. It was the root for her own name and definitely meant for her, but it wasn't something she had ever seen before. Flipping over the pendant she saw that some small words had been carved into the back of it.

'For a friend; from a fellow flower; Cokeworth, England; L.E.'

Narcissa marveled at the precision it had to have taken to have carved such small words into the pendant, even with magic. A smile graced her lips at the gift, and at the person she knew had given it to her. She'd never visit the address on the back; that much she knew, but the gift did make her happy. She did resolve to punish a certain 2nd year boy for having snuck into her room and rummaged among her stuff to deliver it though.

* * *

><p>Narcissa never did get to punishing Severus for touching her stuff, although the creative punishment of poisoning with narcissus stems cut up into a stew was her favored plan if she ever felt the need. Another favorite idea she'd considered was giving him a threatening package and making him think she really was going to kill him, but it was instead a thank you gift. Mess with his little head for a bit and thank him for doing the favor at the same time. In the end nothing came out of the thoughts except a faster train ride home from Hogwarts.<p>

Three years had passed after Narcissa's graduation from Hogwarts. Three painful years of doing whatever she could to avoid a fate worth than death, picking her damn suitor. Every day that passed her mother just rode her harder and harder to make a decision. Pictures of smiling suitors and letters filled with honest feelings of love from people she had never met arrived daily by owl.

The first year she had managed to hold off everything by saying that she wanted to travel around the world with some of her school friends. Her mother had indulged her and off she had apparated. Apparating was something Narcissa had mastered while in school and she could do land wherever she wanted with only a tiny popping noise. She was also a skilled occlumens, a useful skill for a member of house Black who wanted to hide her thoughts from those around her. Everyone was so proud of her skill in the art, and the fact that she was an exemplary example of a proud Black family member that they didn't care about not being able to read her mind. Well, except for her older sister Bellatrix, but that suited Narcissa fine. She didn't hate her sister, but Bellatrix could be a little…intense at times. She hadn't gotten any better after joining a group called the 'Death Eaters' after graduating from Hogwarts. Their leader, some guy named Lord Voldemort, preached about blood superiority and the end of mudbloods. It was the same old song for Narcissa and she wasn't interested in hearing anymore on the subject from anyone outside her family.

After the excuse for wanderlust had run out, Narcissa had resorted to a different tactic. While traveling she had applied for a job at the Ministry of Magic. She had in fact gotten a job as secretary to the current Prime Minister of Magic, a job that kept her busy and away from the nagging of her family. But that excuse, which had lasted several years, was soon to run out. The Prime Minister was becoming increasingly unpopular and it was only a matter of time before he was replaced, and Narcissa with him. No excuse would save her from her family and the suitors then.

So it was that Narcissa found herself in Diagon Alley, doing some shopping for the Prime Minister. He had ordered some foot cream and had ordered her to pick it up. She resolved not to think about the job too hard and to enjoy the trip down the familiar alley. She planned to do shopping of her own while she was there, getting some stuff that her family needed around the house and for some new clothes, maybe other little trinkets for herself. But mostly she just planned to enjoy the experience. Everything was so full of memories shopping for school, something she had done since she had been a third year student. Her own little excursion into the world outside of her house; a bit of freedom.

She remembered shopping around the stores by herself, making new discoveries and coming across friends from school. The surprises were the spice of life, something not scripted out for her. As she walked past a coffee shop that used to be a tea shop, Narcissa remembered several years prior and the unexpected sight of a little red headed Gryffindor girl. Her reminiscence started to fill in the gaps and the little girl hopelessly reading a map was replaced by a confident teenager, a smile on her face as she studied a piece of paper. Narcissa shook her head lightly to chase away the strange apparition from her mind, but she persisted. The red headed teen looked right at her, surprise and then comprehension flickering across her face. She smiled and started to walk towards Narcissa who was frozen in place as if facing a dementor. Her breath had fled and she was shocked to see such a drastic changes in someone who had only existed in her mind as a child for the last several years. Lily clearly had more growing up to do, but she would be impressive when it was all done, that was clear.

"Narcissa!" called Lily, hurrying through the crowded street. She walked right up to Narcissa, a large smile on her face, and gave her a sudden hug. Narcissa grunted in surprise but neither fought or returned the embrace. Lily disengaged from the hug and frowned up at Narcissa. "Three years and you're still much taller than me. How is that fair?"

Narcissa just stared blankly at the fake-serious expression Lily was trying to keep on her face, a smile trying to fight its way through. The smile finally won out when Narcissa started to laugh; a good honest laugh that made her feel good as it bubbled out of her. When she was done laughing she flashed Lily a cocky smirk.

"I guess that little sneak Severus stole it all from you, last I saw in passing he was a gangly bean pole. He was still as sour looking as ever though," joked Narcissa. She was surprised though when mention of the Slytherin boy wiped the smile off of Lily's face, her expression turning downcast.

"Severus and I are no longer friends," said Lily sadly. "We got in a fight this past year and I doubt I'll talk to him again unless forced to."

Acting without any real conscious thought Narcissa grabbed Lily's arm and tugged her gently down the Alley. "Let's go get some drinks and catch up. Unless you're busy and have other things to do?"

"No, I was just doing some school shopping," replied Lily. She gave Narcissa and small smile. "I'd love to get a drink with you. It'll feel like my second year again."

The two young women walked through Daigon Alley, ending up in the same pub that they had stopped in several years prior. The place was just as crowded as always but Narcissa and Lily soon had a table to themselves in the back, two large drinks in front of them. They started drinking in silence, adjusting to the noise that permeated the room around them. Unsure how to start a conversation with someone she hadn't met in years, and had talked to very little at that, and never being a master of tact, Narcissa got right to the largest question hovering between them.

"What happened between you and Severus?" asked Narcissa. "You two seemed so inseparable several years ago."

"We just grew up," shrugged Lily. "I finally realized that he's a jerk and it wasn't worth having him around."

"That how you really feel?" asked Narcissa.

"Yes," replied Lily confidently.

"Well, that's fine then," shrugged Narcissa. "How have your studies been going?"

"Wait, that's it?" asked Lily, seeming thrown off and confused. "You're just dropping it like that?"

"You said you were fine," replied Narcissa. "Why should I press if it's not an issue?"

"But…" muttered Lily. "What if it was by chance still an issue?"

"Then if you'd like to talk about it I'd be fine with hearing it. Honestly, it'll be a change of pace from everyone around me who's been toting the goals to 'purify the wizarding bloodline' lately. All anyone at home cares about is the Death Eater cult."

"Oh, them…" said Lily darkly. It occurred to Narcissa that Lily might not be too happy to hear about a group that preached the end of all muggle witches and wizards, but it was too late to take back the comment. Lily's expression gained a fury that seemed out of place on her. "That lot has been all around Hogwarts. They're popular talk, especially among the Slytherins and when the Slytherin students want to threaten any of us not from wizarding families."

Lily took a deep breath, probably meant to calm herself down, and then continued speaking. "Severus has several friends who plan to join as soon as they graduate. They brag about it at every moment, except the ones where they're slinging slurs at the nearest muggle, and guess who that usually is? Severus would make jokes to diffuse things and walk away. He wouldn't cover for me or anything, it's not like he could just tell his new friends to eat a toad or something, right? And then, when I go and help him when that blasted James Potter is picking on him, what does he do? He says he doesn't need my help and calls me a dirty mudblood. Oh was he so sorry and apologetic immediately after, but you know what? I'd had enough of it. It all happened too often, why should I just stick around and take the insults if he has no intention of changing?"

Tears started to roll down Lily's cheeks and she took a slightly gasping sip of her drink before speaking again. "And you know what? I told him that. I lost my best friend, the one who introduced me to the world of magic."

"Good riddance then," said Narcissa. Lily looked up at her in surprise, tear tracks running down her cheeks. "If he's not good to have around you, then you don't need him. Why would staying with him make him change if this has been going on for a long time? Either he'll mature without you and wholeheartedly apologize, or he won't; there's no need to worry yourself about it. Just enjoy your drink, enjoy your day and enjoy your life."

"That seems rather cold," replied Lily. Narcissa just shrugged.

"If you won't care for yourself and make sure you're living a good life, then who will? Care for yourself first and then help other people if you want once you can."

"That makes sense I guess," replied Lily, wiping away the tears with her sleeve. She took a deep breath followed by a large gulp of her drink. When she was done with those actions, she seemed to be much steadier. "So, what have you been up to since you graduated from Hogwarts?"

What followed was a long, and surprisingly animated conversation as the two young women talked about themselves as if they were old friends meeting after a long time. At one point Narcissa was surprised at the ease she talked to the younger girl and wondered if it was because she was in no way associated with the Blacks; or if there was another reason entirely. After they were done with their drinks they headed back onto Daigon Alley and walked from store to store, completing their shopping lists, with a few stops in other unrelated stores for fun. And it was fun, one of the most fun days she had had since leaving Hogwarts and the freedom it offered. But no matter how great of a day they had together, in the end they eventually had to go their separate ways.

"Thank you, for today," said Lily as they both stood on the now darkening and less crowded Diagon Alley. "You know, you have a weird way of making me feel better. If you wouldn't mind, I'd like to meet with you again, before school starts up again. We can talk, I'm sure there's much more we could say."

"I think I'd like nothing more," replied Narcissa with a smile.

* * *

><p>They never went out that second time before Lily returned to Hogwarts for her sixth year, but they did manage to start exchanging letters by owl. Roughly once a week a large brown barn owl with a slightly nasty temperament would arrive and drop off a letter from Lily, although it demanded payment of a cracker or two before it gave up its cargo. It would then leave and Narcissa would read over the letter several times, digesting its contents. She'd then go do something else that demanded her attention, drafting her own reply letter in her head. It would generally be the day after she received the letter that she'd write her own reply, laboring carefully over it. Once it was drafted she'd attach it to the leg of her own small pure bred black carrier owl and off her reply would go. With that done, Narcissa would go about the next few days without thinking about the letter until the arrival of the barn owl reminded her and she started the cycle again.<p>

It was during one of the many rounds of letter trades that Narcissa opened up one and found among the usual pleasantries and descriptions of Hogwarts life a question aimed right at her. "Would you like to go on vacation with me around the countryside during my winter break?" asked the letter. Narcissa actually put the letter inside a magically locked drawer on her desk that could only be opened by herself, not even bothering reading any of the closing statements in the letter. She removed the contents from her mind and went about the rest of her day with extra enthusiasm. Her family commented on her slightly different behavior but she just comforted them that it was because she had received some good news in response to a correspondence of hers.

So it was, when she was preparing to turn in for the night that her mind once again turned to the letter. She carefully undid the magic locking the drawer, took out the haphazardly folded letter and read it one through fully. With that done she turned in for the night, her dreams haunted by Lily Evans and her silky red hair and enchanting green eyes. It was as the dream Lily pulled her into a passionate embrace, their lips brushing as their hands searched each other's bodies that Narcissa woke up.

Her mind still in turmoil, she threw herself into her daily tasks, finishing them with great fervor. It was mid-day when she found herself with nothing else to do, so she threw on a light coat and went for a walk around the town. With nowhere in mind she visited places she never had before, seeing sights she'd never witnessed. She walked far, farther than she had in any other day, and when she finally returned home, having missed dinner but having found it set aside for her. She had walked longer than ever before. Her family were all curious, and slightly disapproving of her actions, but she had no answers for them. She could have always apparated home, but the walk had just felt right. Sadly it hadn't yielded any answers, so she went to sleep once again, her unasked question unanswered.

Narcissa once again dreamed of Lily, this time her dream picked up from where it had left off. Narcissa saw herself from a strange third person point of view as she stripped Lily of her clothes, the scene jumping frames in a jerking motion as her mind sped toward its goal. The two young women passionately kissed and Narcissa saw herself inserting a finger into Lily, who gasped in pleasure. Then, opening her eyes, Lily and her piercing green eyes looked right at the peeping Narcissa and not her dream self. The red headed young woman gave a coy smile and beckoned with a free hand. Then Narcissa once again woke up, this time aware of what her answer would be.

* * *

><p>It was only with a faint popping noise that Narcissa and her trunk apparated into the middle of a suburb in Cokeworth. The muggles around her paid no head to her due to the charm she had cast on herself to make herself seem utterly uninteresting to them. She walked to the address that she had long memorized, slowly dropping the charm to allow herself to be noticed again. As the charm disappeared the muggles buzzing around her would have noticed a rather striking young woman in black pants, with a black silk blouse and black sneakers. The pants and blouse were slightly too loose on her due to her unfamiliarity with Muggle clothing when she had bought them on her own, and the sneakers pinched her feet slightly. She cursed slightly at the annoyance, but knew that the simple clothes would be the best disguise for her current trip.<p>

As Narcissa walked towards the address given to her she was distressed by how similar all of the muggle buildings around her were. They were all of similar sizes and painted in what seemed to be half a dozen differing shades of the same drab colors. The area wasn't very pleasant and it wasn't very charming. Black ancestral land tended to be depressing or dark, but it had character and a charm of its own. The area around her though was just boring and felt like it had never had any life to it. It was a mystery to her how anyone could live in such an area.

The numbers written on each house indicated that she had arrived at her destination, but it didn't look any different from any of the other houses around it. Narcissa walked up to the front door of the house and after looking around for a bit to figure out what to do, grabbed the knocker on the door and clanked it against the door. She heard footsteps from inside, followed by the sound of a lock turning. The door opened up and Narcissa was greeted by a plain young woman with a long neck and a much practiced frown on her face.

"What do you want?" asked the woman curtly.

"I'm here for Lily Evans, I'm a friend of hers," said Narcissa, resisting the urge to cast a hex on the woman. Assuming she had the right house this had to be the much talked about Petunia, Lily's older sister. Her descriptions of Petunia's looks and attitude had been much, much more charitable than how Narcissa would have described her to someone just after this very brief meeting. Petunia studied her for a moment, her frown somehow becoming larger.

"She doesn't have normal friends," replied Petunia judgmentally. "You from that wacko school of hers?"

"Yes, I know her from Hogwarts," replied Narcissa, counting slowly in her head to keep calm. "My name is Narcissa Black. Is Lily home? She was supposed to be expecting me around now. I am a little early though."

"She's in the shower and should be out any moment," replied Petunia. The two women just stood there for a minute staring at each other in silence as Petunia failed to invite her inside to wait. Narcissa wondered if the young woman had no manners drilled into her whatsoever or if she was just choosing to ignore them for some reason. After more than a minute of awkward silence had passed, Petunia spoke up again. "You look a little too old to know my sister from school, what's really going on?"

Narcissa was kind of surprised by how astute of a person the insufferable Petunia really was, but it was definitely not going to help endear the other girl to her. "You're right, I'm one of her seniors from school. We met a few times over the course of my time at the school, I helped her out with a few problems she had, and now we've been exchanging letters and have decided to travel a bit during vacation. Is that satisfactory enough of an answer to allow you to gain manners and let me inside to wait like you should have a long time ago?"

Petunia started to turn very red in the face and looked like she would explode in anger an second, possibly taking the whole house with her in the blast. But a flash of red came into Narcissa's sight and soon Lily was at the front door, a smile on her face.

"Narcissa!" greeted the young girl excitedly. She gave Narcissa a hug and smiled gratefully at her sister. "Thank you for answering the door Petunia. I hope you two enjoyed chatting for a bit? Well, I'm just going to quickly grab my stuff and then we can go. Why don't you come on upstairs Narcissa?"

"Don't mind if I do," replied Narcissa, giving a small smile. Petunia stepped aside, a slight frown on her face, but somehow different than the ones she had been giving prior.

Lily led Narcissa upstairs, allowing her to leave her trunk down stairs, and into a room in which the walls were all painted light blue. One corner had a desk pushed into it, while another wall was taken up by two bookshelves and a dresser. Another wall was dominated by a large window that had the blinds drawn but no doubt looked out into the dreary suburbs of Cokeworth. A bed was pushed up against the far wall, an open trunk half filled with neatly folded clothes sitting on top of it.

Lily turned to Narcissa and gestured to the chair pushed into the desk. "Sorry, I'm running a little behind on packing. Take a seat, I should be done shortly."

Narcissa closed the door, wanting to avoid the no doubt prying eyes of Petunia should they appear, and took a seat on the offered chair. As was casual Black Family practice, Narcissa waved her wand and cast a spell of silence on the room, so that no one outside could hear anything said inside of it. As Lily bustled about, picking, folding and packing clothes, Narcissa studied the room around her. Everything was neat, tidy and organized. On one of the book shelves were all of Lily's school books from throughout the years, organized by year and clearly well kept. The other bookshelf was full of muggle books that meant nothing to Narcissa. She recognized none of the titles, but the books were spilling out of their neat slots on the book shelf as more books were contained on them than was meant to be.

Narcissa tried to study the rest of the room but found her gaze being drawn to Lily. The young woman was facing away from her, the muggle clothes hugging her growing curves much more tightly than the wizarding robes she was used to seeing her in. Her gaze started to focus in more until all Narcissa could see was the swaying of Lily's hips as she packed.

"I want to apologize for Petunia's behavior," said Lily, breaking Narcissa out of her trance. She looked up and met Lily's beautiful bright green eyes. "She's usually pretty nice for an older sister, but she doesn't really like the topic of magic or anyone associated with it. It's…a sore spot for her."

"I'd imagine," replied Narcissa. "Especially with such a talented witch for a sister. Your sister can't use magic, correct?"

"Yeah," replied Lily. "She doesn't really understand why I can while she can't. Her only real experience meeting a wizard was Severus, who was quite rude to her sadly."

"I bet," chuckled Narcissa.

Lily shut her trunk and locked it up. "Ok, ready to go!"

"Let me get that," said Narcissa, standing up. She waved her wand and the trunk lifted off of the bed. She opened the door, lifting the silence spell, and gently directed the drunk out of the room and down the stairs. They followed closely behind and Narcissa deposited the trunk onto the floor next to her own.

"My parents are out and I said goodbye to them earlier, but let me just say good bye to Petunia quickly and we can leave."

"Just take your weird friend and leave for your trip already!" yelled Petunia from the other room. Lily looked momentarily hurt by her older sister's reaction, but she was soon smiling again.

"Ok, we're heading out then! Have a good time while I'm away!" shouted Lily into the other room. Narcissa grabbed Lily's arm gently with her hand, causing the younger girl to look at her.

"Are you ready to go?" asked Narcissa.

"Yeah," replied Lily, nodding.

"Okay then, we're going to apparate, grab a hold of your trunk and just relax." Lily did as she was told and in the pause between a second they were gone, no signs left that they had been standing in the house.

* * *

><p>"That magician's tricks were pretty good, but I think they're wasted on entertaining muggles," commented Narcissa between bites of food.<p>

"He's not a real wizard," replied Lily, laughing slightly. "He just uses tricks of light and sleight of hand to make the audience think he is."

"That is both more and less impressive than if he had been using magic," marveled Narcissa.

It was the first night of their trip and Narcissa was already enjoying it. Since she could apparate them around the time spent traveling was very little, allowing for more time to enjoy the amusements in their first stop after dropping their trunks off at the hotel. Lily had chosen to take them to a so called Magic show, and Narcissa had been pleasantly surprised by the show. Now they were finishing up eating at a small restaurant near the hotel. Just talking and being together with another person like this was a new experience for her, one she was greatly enjoying. She knew that when night came that would only be a pause in the fun, with many more days of travel and amusement to come.

When they had finished eating they headed back to the hotel, Lily flopping down on the single bed that she had claimed when they had arrived. Narcissa was kind of disappointed that they weren't sharing a bed, but she wasn't really sure how Lily would respond to the urges she had been feeling for several weeks now. Every time she saw the red head she felt almost a physical need to touch her, to feel her skin next to her own. To feel their lips pressed together in passion... It was overpowering and she wondered if she'd be able to resist the urges during the trip or be driven mad while trying to enjoy Lily's company. So she just settled for sitting down on her bed, feeling the mattress squeak underneath her.

"Ah, we didn't really do much today but yet I'm still so tired," mused Lily. "And yet, I'd still like to do more before I turn in. We can always talk I guess, do you have any other activities we could do?"

"We could always kiss," replied Narcissa, not realizing what she was saying until it was already out. Lily sat up in bed and looked quizzically at her, and she just replied with a smile, hoping to pass off the comment as a joke. Lily just seemed to study her harder with each passing moment, and Narcissa wondered what she was looking for, and what she could see. She was surprised when Lily stood up, walked over and sat down right next to her on her bed.

They just sat there together for several minutes, neither saying a word nor looking at the other. Than Narcissa noticed movement and turning slightly saw Lily looking right up at her, studying her. She just kept up that glance as minutes passed by and Narcissa had to look away. She could still feel Lily's stare burning into the side of her head. Underneath her shirt, a certain metal flower seemed to burn into her chest. Her heart started to beat faster and her face flushed red. She couldn't stand the silence, the waiting, anymore. So she turned to look at Lily to try to confront her with an explanation and found the red headed girl just centimeters away, looking right up at her.

Narcissa's voice caught in her throat at that moment, and as she tried to mumble out an excuse only three words found their way out.

"I love you."

Lily then stood up, stood in front of Narcissa and cupped her hand around her face. The red head leaned down and kissed Narcissa, the brush of their lips sending Narcissa's mind reeling. Eventually Lily pulled back and smiled softly at her.

"I love you too."

* * *

><p>Narcissa was tired. The labor had not been easy and it had been a long night. She wanted to sleep, to sleep for a long, long time. But first, she had another thing to do. Crying filled her ears as she gazed upon the bundle of blankets being held out before her. She grabbed it and cradled it gently in her arms. Peeling back the blanket she saw a newborn baby boy looking right up at her, demanding her love and attention. He had wisps of blonde hair on him and clear blue eyes; eyes that were nothing like Lily's. At that moment Narcissa finally stopped holding it all in and she cried; cried tears of joy at such a beautiful baby who looked nothing like the woman she loved.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Notes<strong>: Well, this went much longer than I had originally planned. Seriously, a 10k word one-shot? What was I thinking? I've had this idea for a Lily/Narcissa fic for over a year now and I'm finally glad that I got it out. There's not too much info on how the mothers act when younger, Narcissa being older, bitter and caring only for Draco is basically all we see of her. Doing research I also found that she was roughly five years older than Lily and Severus, with Lucius Malfoy being a year older than her. It's kind of amazing that Snape was able to befriend people who were so much older than him at Hogwarts, in High School I barely knew who was in just a grade below or above me. Research also showed (although this is from Wikipedia, so anyone with actual knowledge on this feel free to enlighten me) but at the point this story would have been happening I think the minimum age of consent was 12, so Narcissa is not committing a crime in this story. Also, interestingly enough that while there was a ban on Gay relationships in England at the time, there wasn't one on Lesbian relationships and the bill to ban them had in fact been repealed twice. Rumor has it that this is because the British Government "didn't want to give women any ideas". That is probably one of the most sexist reasons I have ever heard for something that was really in the favor of Lesbian and bi-sexual women. Another story has it that Queen Victoria didn't allow it because she couldn't imagine women doing such things to each other, which is again, hilarious and awful at the same time. Also, if it isn't obvious this was inspired by my reading of Modern and Victorian literature. I made the form not quite linear and included a lot of bits about my dislike of "The Angel in the House" (also 1950's Ideal American housewives because it's basically the same thing), the concept should find a dark hole to crawl into and die, to never be heard from again. My anger at institutionalized sexism aside, I hope everyone enjoyed reading this fic as I did writing it.


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